I tried this out on a dying sea-breeze, with a raceboard. 7-9 knots without long lines. Initially I dry flew it, not thinking that there was even enough wind to go out! that proved me wrong, it could hover at the side of the window, fly back and forth perfectly with no issues.

The one thing that I really liked about it was how much power it could generate from the apparent wind once you were planing, it was never ending, with upwind speeds of 15-16 knots, amazing for sub 10 knot winds!

It was very stable through the lows, if the wind dropped you would slowly fall off the plane and the kite would sit there, unlike some others which would just fall out of the sky.

Turning speed surprised me, I thought a big kite would be very slow, but it was quicker than I expected, which was very useful for the downloops going around marks and the aggressive sine-wave needed for the downwinds.

Relaunch was crazy, never have I relaunched a kite with such little effort in light winds. pull 1 line and the kite flips over, or pump the kite out of the water with reverse relaunch. ( waist deep water) easy.

I have a new-found love for light winds, they are so rewarding and fun! no more waiting on the beach!

I ride the Element 13m and if the winds are really crankin' my 9m. I am a big guy at 6'3" and 255 pounds, and being an intermediate rider I like to keep things simple and just have fun. I mostly ride at Mokuleia, but now that the big surf is here for the winter, I am looking for a Kailua kite. Don't get me wrong. The waves are awesome, but when they get much more than double overhead I get nervous. A big, wet, thundering office-building-sized-wave falling on my head and detonating my kite (should it end up in front of a wave) is not much fun if you ask me.

I think that the 16m Nitro II would be just the ticket. It's cheaper than buying a light wind board and the new bar coming out sometime soon should be even better than the current one (which I really like for its simplicity and no-nonsense approach). That big 16m should do very well I think in those 10-12 knot days that Kailua is so famous for in the winter time.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum